Cristiano Ronaldo spent just six years in English football but as he celebrates his 30th birthday on Thursday the former Manchester United star has been voted as the greatest player to have graced the Premier League.
A survey conducted by Usurv for Press Association Sport showed Ronaldo was the people’s choice, finishing ahead of Thierry Henry and Ryan Giggs, who joined him on the fantasy podium.
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Ronaldo was brought to Old Trafford by Alex Ferguson as a raw 18-year-old in 2003, and departed for Real Madrid in 2009 with three Premier League titles, a Uefa Champions League winners’ medal and an FA Cup, and as the reigning Fifa world player of the year.
The Portuguese forward’s extraordinary success has continued unabated in Spain, following what was at the time a record £80million transfer. Ronaldo has plundered goals and broken records at a breathtaking rate and developed a keen rivalry with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the pair now firmly established as the leading two players of their era.
Ronaldo’s talent was fine-tuned at United, where he scored 118 goals in 292 appearances, fully justifying his early billing as ‘the new George Best’.
In an online poll of 1,000 members of the public, the choice offered was between Ronaldo, Henry, Giggs and fellow luminaries Eric Cantona, Gianfranco Zola, Dennis Bergkamp, Steven Gerrard, Alan Shearer, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira.
Marginally over a quarter of those surveyed chose an 11th option - specified as ‘other/don’t know’.
Ronaldo snared 177 of the 747 votes cast for one of the chosen star names, a 24 per cent share once the fence-sitters and contrarians are removed from the calculations.
Next in line was Arsenal favourite Henry, with 18 per cent of support, followed by Ronaldo’s former team-mate Giggs - the most decorated player in the league - on 13 per cent.
French maverick Cantona, the key on-field figure in establishing the Red Devils as the Premier League’s early dominant force, took a 12 per cent share, as did the division’s record goalscorer Shearer.
Keane, who sneered at prawn sandwiches and brought both brawn and brain to Ferguson’s best teams, might be unimpressed by his two per cent haul of votes, but he still edged out old Arsenal foe Vieira who took a one per cent slice.
Regional variations were intriguing, with Henry leading the way in East Anglia, Newcastle favourite Shearer not surprisingly the pick of north-east voters, Giggs and Cantona scooping joint top spot in Wales, and Gerrard the favourite choice in Northern Ireland.
Ronaldo led the way in the East Midlands, London, north west, Scotland, south east and south west.
When it came to gender differences, Ronaldo ruled the roost for both men and women.
Shearer found considerably more support with women voters (16 per cent) than with men (nine per cent), while the opposite was true for Henry. The Frenchman who brought va-va-voom into the footballing lexicon was the preferred choice of 20 per cent of men, but just 15 per cent of women.
Overall result
1 Ronaldo (177 votes - 24 per cent). 2 Henry (133 votes - 18 per cent). 3 Giggs (95 votes - 13 per cent). 4 Shearer (92 votes - 12 per cent). 5 Cantona (89 votes - 12 per cent). 6 Gerrard (77 - 10 per cent). 7 Bergkamp (40 votes - five per cent). 8 Zola (24 - three per cent). 9 Keane (14 votes - two per cent). 10 Vieira (six votes - one per cent).
*An initial sample of 1,000 was cut to 747, removing 253 participants who voted ‘other/don’t know’.
Men (sample of 402)
1 Ronaldo (92 votes - 23 per cent). 2 Henry (80 votes - 20 per cent). 3 Giggs (50 votes - 12 per cent). 4 Cantona (49 votes - 12 per cent). 5 Gerrard (37 votes - 9 per cent). 6 Shearer (36 votes - nine per cent). 7 Bergkamp (33 votes - eight per cent). 8 Zola (14 votes - three per cent). 9 Keane (nine votes - two per cent). 10 Vieira (two votes - zero per cent).
Women (sample of 345)
1 Ronaldo (85 votes - 25 per cent). 2 Shearer (56 votes - 16 per cent). 3 Henry (53 votes - 15 per cent). 4 Giggs (45 votes - 13 per cent). 5= Cantona & Gerrard (40 votes - 12 per cent). 7 Zola (10 votes - three per cent). 8 Bergkamp (seven votes - two per cent). 9 Keane (five votes - one per cent). 10 Vieira (4 votes - one per cent).
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6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; 6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
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Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
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- Duration: Can linger for days
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Ovo's tips to find extra heat
- Open your curtains when it’s sunny
- Keep your oven open after cooking
- Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
- Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
- Put on extra layers
- Do a few star jumps
- Avoid alcohol
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Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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4,872 matches
1,942 teams
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